Pseudoplangia laminifera ( Karsch, 1896 ) Karsch, 1896

Massa, Bruno, 2014, A new genus of Phaneropterinae (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Tettigoniidae) from Central Africa, Zootaxa 3764 (2), pp. 197-200 : 198-200

Pseudoplangia laminifera ( Karsch, 1896) n. comb.

Plangia laminifera Karsch, 1896

Holotype ♀: Africa, West-Central Tropical Africa, Cameroon, Lolodorf, Leopold Conradt ( ZMHB, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin).

Material examined. Central African Republic, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Ndoki, Lake 3 (UV trap) 02°29’ 18.2N 016°13’ 56.5E, 18–19.II.2012, P. Moretto (1♂, 2♀♀); border of Lake 1 (UV trap) 02°28’ 51.0N 016°13’ 04.5E, 13– 14.II.2012, P. Moretto (1♀) (Coll. B. Massa, Palermo).

When Karsch (1896) described Plangia laminifera , he pointed out only the presence of compressed fore and mid femora, with black spines on lower border, but he did not mention the shape of eyes, the presence of compressed fore and mid tibiae, the shortness of mid femora, the peculiar shape of spines of hind tibiae and the width of vertex, that is broader than the width of the first antennal segment.

Description of the male, previously unknown.

Color. Antennal segments yellow with dark apices. Last articles of palps dark, face yellow, head brown with some reddish spots, pronotum brown with some reddish spots, tegmina brown with some dark markings of different size ( Figs 1, 2, 11 ).

Fastigium of vertex is broader than the first antennal segment, with median sulcus, eyes oval and elongate, head without fronto-genal carinae. Pronotum without lateral carinae, surface punctate, shiny, legs densely covered by hairs. Fore and mid tibiae and femora are laterally compressed, mid femora very short, less than pronotum length. Fore and mid femora reddish, fore and mid tibiae dark, hind femora yellowish-brown, hind tibiae yellowish with dark apical part ( Figs. 1, 2, 12, 13 ). Legs are comparatively short, fore and mid are laterally compressed ( Figs 6, 7 ). Distribution of spines on legs are as follows: 3 on the inner ventral border of fore femora, 3 on each side of ventral border of fore tibiae, 4 spines on the inner ventral border of mid femora, 4 on each side of ventral borders of mid tibiae, 6 spines on the outer ventral border of hind femora, 11 on the inner and outer dorsal borders, 10 on the inner and outer ventral borders of hind tibiae. Upper spines are broad-based and long ( Figs 12, 13 ). Many hairs are scattered over the legs. Tegmina are rather large and long (see measurements) and show a sinuous radius and simplified veins; radius is sinuous, second radius divaricate, media nearer to fore than to hind border, with three veinlets developed towards the hind border ( Figs 1, 11 ). Speculum is wide and triangular, small veinlets branch off its left border ( Fig. 4 ); the stridulatory file is gently curved, with ca. 100 small teeth ( Fig. 8 ). Abdomen is yellowish with a reddish stripe on the upper part, cerci are short, covered by small hairs and in-curved, with pointed apex, reddish with black apex ( Fig. 5 ). Sub-genital plate is long, with two carinae, provided by two apical small appendices, similar to styli, which are absent ( Fig. 5 ).

Redescription of the female. Same characters of the male, with the following differences. 6–8 spines on the outer ventral border of hind femora, 10–12 and 12–13 spines on the inner and outer dorsal borders of hind tibiae, 5–6 and 9–11 spines on the inner and outer ventral borders of hind tibiae. Ovipositor clearly up-curved, cerci pointed ( Fig. 9 ). Subgenital plate triangular, with a concavity on the middle and two reliefs on the hind border ( Fig. 10 ).

Measurements (mm). Male. Total length: 21.0; length of pronotum: 6.2; height of pronotum: 6.1; length of hind femora: 13.4; length of tegmina: 30.7. Females. Total length: 21.9–27.4; length of pronotum: 6.0–6.4; height of pronotum: 6.0– 6.3; length of hind femora: 12.5–13.4; length of tegmina: 31.1–33.4; length of ovipositor: 5.0–5.9.

Distribution. Karsch (1896) described this species from Cameroon (Lolodorf); later, Griffini (1908) recorded it from the Democratic Republic of Congo (Popocabacca), and Leroy (1985) from the Central African Republic.

Discussion. When Ragge (1980) published his revision on African Phaneropterinae with open tympana, he divided the key into two main groups, one with dorsal spines of the hind tibiae unusually broad-based and another with unmodified dorsal spines. The first group includes only the genus group Terpnistriae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878, with characters much different from those of the genus group Amblycoryphae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878, to which both Plangia and Pseudoplangia n. gen. belong. The broad-based spines of hind tibiae are a quite unique character in the latter group of Phaneropterinae ; their presence in Pseudoplangia laminifera was overlooked. Other Phaneropterinae with closed tympana show broad-based spines on hind tibiae (e.g. the S–E Asian genus Ancylecha Serville, 1838 , belonging to the tribe Holochlorini Brunner van Wattenwyl, 1878). Pseudoplangia n. gen. seems to be the sole African representative of Amblycoryphae equipped with broad-based spines on hind tibiae.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 19. Pseudoplangia laminifera (Karsch, 1896) n. comb. 1. Habitus of the male. 2. Habitus of the female. 3. Lateral view of male pronotum. 4. Stridulatory apparatus of the male. 5. Sub-genital plate of the male. 6. Lateral view of the female pronotum. 7. View from above of male head and fore legs. 8. Stridulatory file of the male. 9. Lateral view of the ovipositor. 10. Sub-genital plate of the female. 11. Left tegmen of the male. 12. Detail of spines of hind tibiae of the male. 13. Hind femora and tibiae of the male. 14 – 15. Male head and pronotum from above (14) and in lateral view (15). Figs. 16 – 17. Plangia deminuta Griffini, 1908. Male head and pronotum from above (16) and in lateral view (17). Figs. 18 – 19. Eurycorypha canaliculata Karsch, 1890. Male head and pronotum from above (18) and in lateral view (19).